State approval opens new opportunities for online learning

YORK — — State approval as a multi-provider for online learning will open opportunities for the York County School Division's virtual program, but there's a reason the district was one of just two school divisions who were on the list of 13 providers approved.

"We were the two that bit the bullet to complete the long and involved application," said Reginald Fox, York's coordinator of online learning and principal of its virtual high school.

York County and Chesterfield County Public Schools were joined by 11 commercial online-learning organizations on the list of approved multi-providers recently released by the Virginia Department of Education.

York was approved to provide full-time and supplemental instruction for students in grades 7-12 from multiple school districts, according to a statement from the state education department.

The initiative is part of Gov. Bob McDonnell's effort to expand access to online learning while adhering to state academic standards.

York already has its own virtual high school open to students from other districts.

But the state required virtual schools or online programs to secure board approval to enroll more than 10 percent of their students from outside the host school division.

The approval process, which Fox said will take place annually, was daunting and may have kept more districts from applying.

The application was approximately 15 pages long, very detailed and had a quick turn-around time, he added.

"With having to demonstrate that you have high quality program, the application process was very rigorous," Fox said. "Some colleagues in other school divisions said we're just going to wait, because it was so involved.

"We pressed forward. We've had the virtual high school for seven years and partnered with other school divisions in the past and served 10 or more school divisions. We also serve private school students and those from other districts for summer school."

The multi-provider approval doesn't change anything right away for York's virtual learning program, but Fox said he expects changes.

"What we're looking to do is expand our program within, and the ability to offer to other school divisions in the Commonwealth," Fox said.

"Currently we plan to only offer to those school divisions, not individuals, homeschoolers or private school students. So students have to be enrolled in a school division."

Collaboration between online teaching and learning, multi-media efforts and video-conferencing are just a few of the specifics Fox is looking forward to exploring.

"It will help us to create a better product as we have students collaborating online using 20th century Web tools — so that we're able to better meet the needs of students," Fox said. "We're looking forward to this opportunity."